and Libya are ready to buy Russian Pantsir-S1 short-range air defense systems, deputy head of the Russian Military-Technical Cooperation Service Vyacheslav Dzirkaln said on Wednesday.

“The new system has shown high efficiency. Algeria and Libya have shown interest. Syria has already bought these systems in the past,” Dzirkaln said, adding that other potential customers were likely to appear.

Earlier in March the Russian press said Algeria was planning to buy 40 Pantsir-S1s for $500 million.

Several Russian papers also reported that Russia had signed a $734-million contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2000 on purchasing 50 Pantsir-S1s.

Dzirkaln confirmed the reports and said Russia would finish delivering the Pantsir-S1’s to the UAE this year.

Pantsir-S1 is a short-to-medium range combined surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft artillery system manufactured by the Tula-based Instrument Making Design Bureau (KPB).

It is designed to protect point and area targets and carries up to 12 two-stage solid-fuel surface-to-air missiles in sealed ready-to-launch containers.

The system also has two dual 30 mm automatic cannons that can engage targets at a range of up to 4 km.